Report absolves former Rutgers coach who was accused of bullying player
Three months after being accused of bullying a player, former Rutgers defensive coordinator Dave Cohen was exonerated after an investigation from a law firm.
According to the AP, Saiber LLC, a firm with offices in Florham Park, NJ and Newark, NJ, issued a report Tuesday that said Cohen did not bully former Scarlet Knights cornerback Jevon Tyree. Tyree left the team in November after alleging that Cohen verbally abused him, threatened to head-butt him during a spring study hall session and treated him unfairly.
Teammates and an academic adviser were present when the incident took place, and the adviser reported it to the University. The incident took place when Rutgers was facing national scrutiny when video surfaced of then-basketball coach Mike Rice abusing his players, but the report said that the university “responded appropriately” to the Tyree incident.
Cohen was found to have used inappropriate language toward Tyree, but the report found that head coach Kyle Flood “took appropriate action within hours of being informed” and “immediately admonished Cohen” before addressing the situation with the “entire coaching staff.”
According to the AP, Tyree and his parents, Cohen, Flood, and Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann were among nearly 40 people the firm interviewed about the incident.
“It was an unfortunate event, but we were happy to find that within hours of these issues being brought to the attention (of athletic officials), action was taken,” Rutgers spokesman Pete McDonough said. “It’s reassuring to know that our systems are working.”
Cohen was fired following a 6-7 season and has since been hired as the defensive line coach at Wake Forest.
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